Page 87 of Lucifer's Mirror

There’s a noise behind me—soft footfalls entering the clearing. Thanouq and Khaosti have arrived.

Chapter 41

Khaos

She’sstandingintheclearing, staring up at the sky.

“Where’s Zayne?” Thanouq asks.

At his words, she turns to face us and points a hand up to the sky. I look up.

“Shit,” Thanouq says. “That’s...” He seems lost for words.

“Awesome,” she finishes for him.

“Impressive,” he agrees.

We all stare up at the huge lizard-like creature circling above us. I suppose he’s mildly impressive. I’ve never seen a basilisk before. They’re rare. I see the moment Zayne notices we’ve arrived. His long tail lashes. Then, with a flick, he’s gone, vanishing into the night.

“I’ll go after him,” Thanouq says. “Check that he doesn’t get into trouble.”

“Good luck with that,” Amber says. “Zayne’s middle name is Trouble.” She gives him a small smile. “Look after him.”

A few seconds later, the huge griffin launches into the sky, and then he’s gone as well, flying in the same direction as Zayne.

“Do you wish you could fly?” Amber asks. “I mean, a wolf is cool, but”—I wave a hand upwards—“I mean, wow.”

I raise a brow but don’t answer. Then I turn and study her. What’s she been up to? How did she get the boy to shift? She holds herself very still under my intense stare, then snarls, “What?”

“I was just wondering how you did it,” I say. “How you got him to shift? We’ve been trying everything for the last week and getting nowhere. How did you do it?”

She shrugs and glances away, looking decidedly guilty about something.

“He kissed you, didn’t he?” I say.

She sniffs, and her hand automatically goes to her mouth. “Why would you think that?”

“Your lips are red.” I study her some more, my head cocked to one side. “And you look guilty as hell.”

“Why would I feel guilty about Zayne kissing me? Maybe I wanted him to kiss me. Maybe I liked it.”

“Or maybe you didn’t want it, and maybe you didn’t like it.” At first, I’d thought there was some sort of romantic attachment between them, but I’ve come to see that it’s completely one-sided. “You don’t think of Zayne like that.”

“You have no idea how I think.”

My gaze slowly wanders over her, then back to her face, and a small smile curves my lips. “Believe me, I know. I’ve seen the way you look at him. You love him, but not like that. Never like that.”

She turns away and stomps toward the pool. “You think you know me so well,” she says over her shoulder. “You don’t know me at all. How can you? I don’t even know myself.”

When she gets close to the water, she kicks her foot into the moss, then peeks back at me. “So will you let him go back to Earth now?” she asks. “Zayne told me that you said he couldn’t go until he could control his shift.”

I shrug. “We’ll just check that he is in control when he does shift, that he can change back without problems, and that he’s got the common sense not to do anything to make himself conspicuous.”

“It’s a little hard not to be conspicuous when you look like that,” she says. “Flying serpents that can breathe fire aren’t too common on Earth. Maybe you shouldn’t let him go.”

I shake my head. “You can’t keep him here.”

“I know, but he’s my family.” With a sigh, she sinks down onto the grass and wraps her arms around her knees. “Everything’s changing,” she murmurs.